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Obitua

Obituaries from page 69

a passion he had since he was 13 years
old: collecting and preserving rare books.
The first rare edition in his collection was
iscours stir l'Histoire Universelle, by Jacques-
Benigne Bossuet, published in 1740.
Mindlin, the son of Ukrainian parents,
had occupied several public positions in
the cultural field in Sao Paulo, including
secretary of culture.
"He was a giant of the Brazilian cul-
ture," Sao Paulo Mayor Gilbero Kassab
said. "His legacy is the library he left, the
result of a life dedicated to the books.
Today, it's an asset of all Brazilians."
Henry Sobel, emeritus rabbi of Latin
America's largest Jewish congregation, the
2,000-family Congregacao Israelita Paulista,
said that Mindlin's life was a book itself
"He was a righteous man who could see
ethics in politics and culture;' Sobel said. "I
felt so small when I was in his library. His
greatest book was called Jose Mindlin."

Ex-Israeli Soldier

New York/JTA — A Brown University
freshman who had served in the Israeli

army was killed by an allegedly drunken
driver.
The death of Avi Schaefer, 21, sent
reverberations through two conti-
nents, from the campus community
in Providence, R.I., to the Lone Soldier
Center in Jerusalem.
Schaefer, a California native, made ali-
yah in 2007. His funeral in Los Angeles
was streamed in real time on the Internet
and watched by friends all over the world,
including about 300 people at the center
in Jerusalem and Brown students at the
university's Hillel, according to Haaretz.
Early on the morning of Feb. 21, an
allegedly drunken driver drove his SUV
into a group of students walking home
from a party near the Brown campus, kill-
ing Schaefer and injuring another student.
The driver, Daniel Gilcreast, 23, report-
edly had a blood-alcohol level above the
.08 legal limit, according to a test taken by
Providence police.
A Facebook site, "In Loving Memory of
Avi Schaefer:' now has more than 3,650
members. Another Facebook group,

Is The Ira Kaufman. Chapel considering a new location in the future?

"Alliance for Avi against Drunk Drivers:'
has more than 1,400 members.
Schaefer was active in Common Ground,
an organization for students to discuss the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and was known
for a column he wrote in the student news-
paper addressed "To those interested in
creating peace in the Middle East."
He became close friends with a
Palestinian student who was a member of
the group, according to the Brown Daily
Herald.

David Bankier,
Holocaust Scholar

Jeruslalem/JTA — David Bankier, whose
Holocaust research studies dealt with
persecutors and bystanders, has died.
Bankier, the head of the International
Institute for Holocaust Studies at Yad
Vashem, died Feb. 27 following a long ill-
ness. He was 63.
Among Bankier's major topics of inter-
est was how anti-Semitism became the
most central and efficient tool used by
the Nazi regime to spread its ideology,

both in its internal regime struggles and
its efforts to recruit the masses.
"Professor Bankier was one of the most
important and most cited scholars in the
research of Nazi Germany," Yad Vashem
Chairman Avner Shalev said. "His publi-
cations in this field constitute a corner-
stone of modern academic research."
In 2000, he was appointed head of
the International Institute for Holocaust
Research at Yad Vashem and incumbent
of the John Najmann Chair of Holocaust
Studies.
Bankier, a native of Germany, was the
Solomon and Victoria Cohen Professor
at the Hebrew University and headed the
section for Studies in Anti-Semitism and
the Holocaust at the university's Institute
for Contemporary Jewry. He served
as visiting professor at universities in
London, the United States, South Africa
and South America.
Bankier was involved in developing
centers of Jewish studies in Latin America
and promoted academic publications in
Spanish.

We planned ahead, considering carefully the central location to
the cemeteries and the population we serve. The location and
building still fit our needs perfectly today. Our extensive parking
area and four points of entry and exit make us easily accessible
from all directions.

My six- and eight-year old children are very close to their
grandfather who's dying and in Hospice care. I want to bring them
to the Chapel, bias not the cemetery. Is this the right decision?

I'm often asked this question. Remember, what children see is often
less frightening that what they imagine. I find it best to discuss the
entire process from death to burial prior to the funeral. Knowing
what to expect usually allows them to participate throughout.

My mother has organized a pre-arranged funeral with a graveside
service. If our family wants to change that for any reason, such as
the weather, can we alter the arrangements?

Yes, we meet and review all of the arrangements. When a graveside
service has been predetermined, there is an understanding that
severe weather could alter the plans.

THE IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL

Bringing Together Family, Faith 6 Community

18325 WEST NINE MILE ROAD. SOUTHFIELD. MI 48075

70

March 18 • 2010

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